Interview with William Lorenzo Foard

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William Lorenzo Foard
A Harford Living Treasure
Monday, May 8, 1972 talking with Mr. William Ford, a Blacksmith in Level, Maryland.
NP Good morning Mr. Ford. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?
WF It is, alright; just fine. Not quite as cool as it was the day you were down here
before.
NP That's for sure. I thought it might rain but it hasn't. Does this door close if it rains?
WF Yes, I can close my door.
NP Is that a slide up door?
WF No it is double doors
NP You've been in this business for a longtime, haven't you?
WF . I've been here all my life.
NP How many years is that?
WF This Friday it will be eighty-seven years.
NP
WF Friday I will be eighty-seven this coming Friday.
NP Oh wonderful!
WE I'm eighty-seven years old.
NP And how many of those years have you been a blacksmith?
WF My father had the business and that's how I came up with it.
NP You grew up with it.
WF Yes, for eighty-seven years.
NP When did you start working in the
WF Well, until I was old enough
to do it right.
NP Did you make some mistakes while you were learning!
WF Oh yes, sure I made them alright.
NP What did you start out making? You didn't start right out making a horse shoe or a
wheel or anything.
WF Oh no, no, I just watched the men and then picked it up from them, you know.
I watched them a few times. I'd sneak in the barn and do a
little work myself.
NP Did you waste much metals?
WF Not too much, to see what I was doing, you know.
NP That's your daughter.
WF That's my daughter. You get the iron hot, you
know.
NP And then after the iron was hot, what did you do with it?
WF dry it out and make whatever you want
with it while the iron is hot. You have to get it hot to make it bend right.
NP Well you didn't pick the hot metal up with your hands?
WF If it was long enough to hold on to it we would. But if it was too short, we used
prongs or something like this. Use something like that and put it in the fire and it wouldn't matter how hot it was, you could grab with that and hold onto them. See all those tools hanging down there?
NP They are all sizes.
WF Yes you had any size iron you wanted. This is too small and this is too big so you
could get a bigger one of get a smaller one and any size iron you wanted.
NP What was the heaviest that you could pick up?
WF Well about something like 10 square and 3 inches thick.
NP How much would that weigh?
WF Oh it would have to be a pretty short piece to handle it if it was that heavy
because you couldn't handle it. You'd have to have it long enough to handle both ends because that's too heavy.
NP So if you could handle it with the prongs there, you just didn't handle it.
WE No. If you had an extra long you could handle the cold end of it,
yes.
NP And then you brought it over here to the and hammered it out to
whatever shape you wanted.
WE That's right, that's right. You have to get it hot and hammer it out to whatever
shape you want it; whatever you wanted to make out of it.
NP And what did you hammer it with?
WE Something like that.
NP Oh!
WE If it's a pretty heavy piece of iron, then it took two men to get a sledge there and
with his helper, he'd hit it with that sledge. You used a hand hammer and then you used a hand hammer to dress it up with.
NP And what were you making? You could make almost anything.
WE I had to make a metal wagon and used to make those things sitting over there;
they'd break in two and we'd have to weld them up.
NP Wagon latch?
WE Yes. That took about a three man job to do that.
NP Yes that weighs about a hundred pounds?
WE Oh yes that weighed a hundred pounds.
NP And then you made tools.
WE Yes I made some tools and all kinds of wagon and buggy work; shoe horses and
buggy work, big wagon wheels and all that stuff. I put on new tires and I half to bend them around; just like that big tire back there. Do you see that?
NP Oh yeah.
WF You get a big straight bar and straighten like that and I put it in that bender and
bend it just like I did with that thing there.
NP Oh that's like a big cradle or something.
WE Yeah. That's for wood. You sit it inside for wood.
NP Did you make that?
WF Yeah I made that.
NP Row old is it?
WF I just made it this winter.
NP You're still busy then?
WE I sold two or three this winter. I made that one and one when I went down to New
Hampshire; she bought it. And then I made another one up there. I just made that one a couple of months ago.
NP What does something like that sell for?
WE It's thirty dollars.
NP Thirty dollars.
WE For that size. If you want one bigger it cost a little bit more. I made that right out
and out.
NP Is that a whole lot more in cost or less in cost then it would be twenty-five years
ago?
WF Oh that's more than it would have been twenty-five years ago. It would have been
about fifteen dollars.
NP And did you make things like that fifty years ago?
WE No there wasn't much call for them then.
NP What were you making mostly then?
WE Oh we were just as busy here as ever before fixing wagons and buggies and
shoeing horses.
NP And how did you go about shoeing a horse?
WF There was no trouble about that.
NP What happened? Suppose I came up to this door with a horse? What would you
do?
WE Well we would bring him in here and tie him upside down with chains where we
could tie him and then pick up his foot and pull the old shoes off and cut his feet down and put on new ones.
NP He didn't just stand there and let you do it?
WF Oh yes, most of them would. Some of them were mean but most of them were
pretty quiet; it didn't bother them.
NP It didn't hurt them at all?
WF Oh no.
NP Well what did you do with the mean ones?
WF What?
NP If you had a mean horse, what did you do with him?
WF Well we'd have to rope him up. [Laughs]
NP And how did you do that?
WF Tie him up so he couldn't move.
NP I see the over-head tie up thing there and then you have something else in case
his mouth got too wide. What did you use there?
WF I used that twitch and put it on his nose and make him stand up and twist his nose
up tight.
NP He didn't like that?
WF Yeah, that made his stand pretty good.
NP And if that didn't and he still kicked, then what did you do?
WF Well then we'd have to do the best we could working it some other way then.
NP Tie his leg down?
WF Yeah, sometimes we had to tie his leg down; that's right.
NP Did they have to stand over there tied up still while you were fixing the shoe or did
you fix the shoe ahead of time?
WF No, no. I never fixed the shoe ahead of time until we got the horse because you
didn't know what size shoe you wanted. Different size horses all got different size feet; it depends on the horse. And then when you put the shoes up and then the man would bring him in there and we'd fit the shoes to fit his foot.
NP So you made the shoe over here and then you couldn't put it on the poor old
animal while it was still hot?
WF Well sometime we put it on and it burned his foot a little bit to level it up.
NP I thought that you did.
WF Yes to level it up a little bit. No, they didn't mind it.
NP Well how did you cool the shoe if it was too hot at first?
WE A bucket of water is right there.
NP Boy that must have made some steam.
WE That water was right there if you got an iron too hot, you dip right in that tub of
water. That's what all the spigots are for. You dip a hot iron in there and cool it off.
NP How much did it cost to shoe a horse?
WF Well about back in those days you only got about two dollars. Today you would
get twenty dollars.
NP Well there aren't many horses to shoe today.
WE No, no farm horses. Everything no is just these riding horses.
NP Where are they shoed? Do you do any of those?
WF I quit that about two years ago.
NP Up until then you were still doing it.
WF Yes, straight up until about two years ago I did. If I could get more, I'd do it.
NP How can you do it? You need help to do it. You can't do it all by yourself, can you?
WF Oh, many I have shod by myself.
NP Here comes a friend; do you want to talk to him?
WF No. That's my son-in-law; he's going into the house.
NP How many horses did you use to shoe during the day?
WE Well we'd average from fifteen to twenty, maybe some days less and some days
more. The most we did turn out here, we shod a hundred and thirty head of horses here in one week.
NP Well that's something unusual.
WF Oh yeah that's unusual. It was icy weather and they had to be sharp so they
wouldn't slip on the ice. A hundred and thirty head in one week.
NP How many men did you have working in here?
WF There was about three of us at that time. I used to have five men in here.
NP Just kept them working all the time?
WF Oh yes these fires were going full blast all day and other men doing other work.
Some days that's all we got done was shoe horses.
NP And then have to take care of the wagons when you got around to it.
WF That's right. And when they come in with a small job like that or something we
just threw it back in the corner until we got time to do it.
NP This must have been a hot smelly place with the horses and the steam and
everything.
WF Oh yeah! You're right, you're right! You are mighty right, lady.
NP You must have had a lot of flies around.
WE That's the reason we have that fly brush. A man would bring his horse in here. I
showed you we made him use that to keep the flies off of us in the summer time. If he didn't keep the flies off, we wouldn't shoe his horse for him. [Laughter]
NP He sat there and shooed the flies for you.
WE That's right.
NP How did you make that fly shoo? That's an interesting thing. It's a horse's tail.
WF Yes, it's a horse' tail; it came off of a dead horse. One of my men had a horse that
died and he cut his tail off and brought it to me and we made a fly brush out of it.
Some of them were very long tails. Do you know how long a horse's tail is?
NP Yes.
WE That one was about that long.
NP It looks like three and a half feet really.
WE Yes. It's just worn down to a foot now.
NP Well how did you tan it? You couldn't just hang a horse's tail there.
WE No, you take the bone out and spread it open and tack it on the board and then
you salt it down; tan it, you know. That preserves it.
NP You salted it down?
WF Oh yeah, you put salt on it to tan it; do you know what I mean?
NP Yes.
WF You had salt to preserve it and then you just make it. Take cow hide like today to
make shoes out of they go to a tannery and you make your shoes out of it.
NP Or somebody makes the shoes out of it. And then after it was all cured, you
wrapped it around the pole.
WF Tacked it on that stick.
NP How old is that one? It looks like it's had a few years on it.
WE Oh yeah; I don't know just how old it is but I know but I know it's twenty-five or
thirty years old anyhow.
NP Well it looks like it still has some use to it.
WF I used to have two or three of them in there because we had two men shoeing
mostly. We wore them out. We used them until we wore them out.
NP Yes that one looks like it has a few more years on it.
WE Yes indeedyl
NP I noticed we're standing here on this floor. Is it the original floor?
WF Yes.
NP Is it Hickory?
WF Oak floor.
NP It has all the marks of the hoofs and the men's heels and everything else on it.
WE Yeah. A lot of these marks over here was from broken iron. You cut a piece off
and you didn't want to take time to knock it off the floor so it laid there a little while and burned it. We didn't want to lose our heat on our iron so we could work and that's what made all those marks on the floor.
NP Yes, it looks like you had a fire there.
WE Yes.
NP And then there is just a dirt floor over there by the where you work,
WE Well that's right; that's dirt. We have that to keep the fire from burning down the
floor over here because a hot iron wouldn't burn back there.
NP How would you keep your feet warm in the middle of winter?
WF We never had any trouble keeping our feet warm.
NP The fire was always hot?
WF Working near that fire, I guess you keep warm.
NP You have to worry about keeping cool, I guess. How did you keep cool in the
summer?
WE Oh boy we open these doors up and made us sweat pretty bad.
NP Now you didn't always have electricity in here?
WE No, no. We didn't have electricity until about ... there weren't any lines through
here or nothing. It was about thirty years, I guess until we had electric in here.
NP You have the electric lights. Do you have anything else running on electricity in
here?
WE We have drills.
NP Oh your modeling drill.
WF Yes, that's electric. I use that now. I used to have to use that old hand drill all the
time. Right there it what we used to have; you had to turn it with your hands. So we got electric in here and then I got an electric drill. So I use an electric drill now.
NP Is that drill for metal and wood?
WF Yes.
NP Where do you get your iron now?
WE Baltimore.
NP Baltimore and it's plentiful?
WE Yes, we get it from Baltimore.
NP How about long ago? Did you get it from some place closer?
WE No. It came from Baltimore but in those days you had to have it shipped to Havre
de Grace by freight and then we had to go to Havre de Grace and haul it home.
NP How many times a week did you do that?
WF Well sometimes I averaged two or three days a week down in Havre de Grace
hauling freight home.
NP Did you have somebody to just do that while the shop was still going on or did
things just stop here?
WF No, no. One or the other would take off and go get it.
NP How much did a truck load of iron cost when you first started out, maybe?
WF Well it would run you about five cents and about a hundred or a
hundred and fifty dollars a ton.
NP What would that be today?
WF That today would be about five hundred.
NP I guess your fuel has gone up too?
WE Oh everything has gone up! Things have doubled or tripled; some of it's dribbled.
NP Dribbled?
WE Yes. Well like I said iron would run you about a hundred dollars a ton and today it
would run you five hundred dollars a ton.
NP How about coal? Has that gone up?
WF Yes, you could buy that for ten dollars a ton and now today that would run you
about twenty or twenty-five dollars a ton, if you can get it.
NP This winter when I visited, you were getting low on the coal and you didn't know if
you could find any.
WE Yes.
NP Where did you get it finally?
WE I got it ... a couple of fellows found out that I wanted some and they found me
some. I don't know where they got it, but they came in here one day with a load for me. They said here we found you some coal.
NP And that kept you in business for the rest of the winter.
WF Yes it kept me in business. They brought me another and now I've got enough to
last me for about a year.
NP Oh, that's good.
WF Yes.
NP You are going to keep working all this next year, too?
WF Well as long as I'm able. It's better than sitting around doing nothing.
NP That's for sure.
WF That's right.
NP How about the other rooms? You don't just have your forge and your shop here;
you have all kinds of other little rooms around, haven't you? Now we are passing
over right in front of the forge and up a worn little wooden step into a little wooden room. Is this your office?
WF This is my office room Supplies are in here and I sell all of
this stuff on the side. Nails, forks; get a lot of handles in and stuff like that.
NP And you've got the bigger tools?
WF Oh yes. We have rakes and hoes and axes, nails, hinges and all kinds of stuff in
there.
NP What is that thing up there on the ceiling?
WF I used to use them for the we used to sell. We would
hang the and and cut them off whatever
length you wanted.
NP Is this like it's always been?
WF Yes it's always been this way. I've never made no changes in it since my father had
it.
NP All wood panels and a steel desk. Is that where you do your book work?
WF Yes that's where I do my book work.
NP Do you have to stand up to do it?
WF Well the main office is in the house.
NP And you have your own scale. And what are all these other things?
WF What? That's liniment I sell.
NP Liniment.
WF Yes.
NP . What is that for; do you just take it for aches
and pains?
WE Yes that's for aches and pains; that's for horses or people, either one. I have
different size bottles there. That size and a smaller size. That one is a bigger size.
NP You mean if it's good enough for horses, it's good enough for a person?
WF Sure is. A lot of people use it. I had one lady that uses it and says it's the only thing
she can use to get on her knees for her arthritis.
NP Ah.
WF Yes, I got a few people that use that all the time.
NP Does the Blacksmith have to be more than a smithy; did he have to dispense
medicines too?
WF No, not particularly. There is a big room in there.
NP And these old cabinets; they look like they've been around a bit.
WF Oh yes. Everything is old. Most everything in here is older than I am.
NP When did your father start this shop?
WE Well I don't know. I should know because I was born and raised here. I was born in
'85 and he must have started around about 1880.
NP And you haven't done anything to the inside to restore it because the outside has
been kept up.
WE No, everything is just about like he had it.
NP Even the doors.
WF Yes, even the doors. The same old doors; the same old things.
NP Is that a poster?
WF It's been down there so long, it's just rotten; rotten paper.
NP Are they calendars?
WF Yes that was a calendar down there and then I tacked that one on there. But that
old calendar has been on there for years and years. Yes the papers get so rotten.
NP What about locks? Did you all make locks and keys too?
WE No, they were bought. That's an old one. That's been put on there. It's different
than the first lock that was put on there. You can't find those kinds of locks today.
NP And the room behind here you have some collections, don't you?
WF I have stuff in here.
NP What are some of the treasures back there?
WF I don't have much stuff back there anymore but most of it's a storeroom now. I
got a lot of stored there still.
NP And you had the sleigh bells.
WF Yes, that's them.
NP Can you jingle them for us?
WF Oh yes. [Very loud jingling noises]
NP Oh they are beautiful! Your friend put those on the strap for you?
WE Yes, yes. I just had them re-strung. I had them all laid out and they were about to
fall off and they had them re-strung. They'll last now for years.
NP Well the horses didn't wear those every day; they were for special occasions,
weren't they?
WF
NP The collars with the bells.
WF Yes, they were just for winter time when you had snow and you went sleighing.
NP For fun?
WE That's right; that's right.
NP Now you have another room back over there; it looks like another storeroom.
WE I have all kinds of bolts back in here. I have all size bolts. This is full of bolts too out
here.
NP Is this the way it was years and years ago?
WF Yes.
NP Same cabinets...
WE Same cabinets and everything. Same floor; everything.
NP And how about that scale? Row old is that thing?
WF I guess it's as old as I am; it's been here ever since I've been here.
NP You didn't weigh a horse on that?
WE Oh no, no, no.
NP It's almost big enough.
WF That only holds about five hundred pounds.
NP How do you feel about the horse going out of style?
WV Well I guess it's alright.
NP But there are still horses around.
WE Those are riding horses.
NP Who shoes them? Who takes care of them?
WF There's two or three fellows; I know one or two of them that goes around doing
nothing but shoeing horses. That's all that they are doing. They are just making a business of it.
NP Huh.
WE They have a truck and everything and they just go around and shoe all these riding
horses. They can't even keep up they tell me. Sometimes they shoe all day Sunday just to get caught up.
NP Well are there enough young people being trained in this?
WE Well I don't know about that; I couldn't say, but I know there is more of them
taking it up in this last year or two then there was. But that's what they're doing now; these young fellows are taking it up and they get themselves a truck and just going around the country and shoe the horses.
NP Where do they apprentice? Do they work with another blacksmith?
WV Yes, sometimes. There is a school some place down in the south where they go to
learn it. The men down there or somebody down there learns them how to do it and everything.
NP So that they'll...
WF And then they come back out and start on their own.
NP There must be good money in it these days.
WF Well yes when it used to be done at two dollars and now you get twenty.
NP [Laughs]
WV It makes a difference.
NP Instead of having a shop like this; they have it on wheels.
WE Yeah, that's right; that's all they know. They can't do other work like I do. All they
do is just shoe horses.
NP And you are going to keep on with this work?
WF Well as long as I'm able.
NP It is still as much pleasure as it used to be? It gets a little lonely sometimes now,
doesn't it?
WE Well that's one thing about it; there's always somebody coming and going and
somebody to talk to.
NP That helps.
WE Yes! It helps pass the time away.
NP And then of course you're not too far away from home from here, are you? You
can always run in the house.
WF No. Right here at the house.
NP Is that the house you were born in?
WE Yep, right there.
NP But it's older than eighty-seven years old. How old is it?
WE Oh I don't know how old that house is. I expect it's about a hundred and fifty years
old; I wouldn't doubt it.
NP How about Level? How old is the village?
WE What?
NP How old is the village of Level?
WF Oh you ask me now and I don't know. I know it's older than I am. There used to be
a Post Office here at one time. We had a Post Office here.
NP Was it a real busy town?
WE Yes, fairly busy. It didn't have many in here; there wasn't nothing but the
blacksmith shop and the store up there and the Post Office was all that was here at one time.
NP People lived out farther.
WF That's right. More farmers were there then, than there is now around here.
Farmers are all gone; there's not many farmers left. All these nice farms are all covered up. I remember when you used to go up that hill; there wasn't a house up that Bel Air hill. Now it's all covered over. All those farms are gone. They built all those houses on there.
NP Are a lot of your friends still around now?
WF NO! Most the people my age are all dead and gone. There aren't many left around
here anymore. They are all new people to me.
NP But you are still friends with them?
WF Oh yes. Now the older heads are dead and gone; all those people that used to
come around here and stay around here. I'd see them come in the morning and stay around here and be here when the night came.
NP Was this a social gathering place?
WF That sounds right. That's right. One man would come in and then another and
they'd get to standing here and the first thing you know they'd be here when dark comes.
NP It didn't interfere with work?
WF But they don't do that today. They just come and go home. It's come and go
today.
NP They stop in just for a little while. Do you have a lot of visitors or strangers like
me?
WF Oh yes. Like I said movies and different ones come in
here and I don't know how many I know come in here. They take pictures and stuff. That's right.
NP What is that picture hanging on the wall?
WF That's a picture of my shop.
NP Who did that?
WF Diane Wright.
NP That is very pretty. Do you have a photograph of it, too?
WE There it is. See, she has her name on there.
NP Very pretty.
WF I keep it over there to keep the dirt from getting on it, you see what I mean out
here; it's dirty. Yes, there it is; it's a picture of the shop. She painted that, Dian Wright. She's got her name right on it.
NP That is very pretty. You've been getting a lot of publicity lately, haven't you? With
the movie and the painting...
WE Yes, lots of them. There was somebody coming in here wanting to take movies of
the place.
NP And you let them?
WE Oh yes!
NP Do you charge anybody?
WE No, never so far.
NP Have you thought about it?
WE It's all free of charge.
NP Well who is going to take this shop over when you can't work it anymore?
WF Shut down and torn down, I expect.
NP It couldn't be preserved?
WF I don't know. Unless somebody wanted to buy it and preserve it; that would be
the only thing.
NP Has anybody made an offer?
WF Nope; I've never had anybody make me an offer. It's too much work so they want
something they don't have to work on.
NP What job is that?
WF There is no job working in a shop like this today. These young people want the
easy jobs. They want a white collar job; they don't want blue collar work.
NP This is hard work. Well Mr. Eoard I want to thank you for taking this time.
WF That's alright.
NP I appreciate it. It's been...
[A lot of noise] Tape back on
NP The old days, huh?
WF No, there weren't no automobiles in those days. There weren't any automobiles
to repair.
NP Right; you had to do the carriage work and the horse shoes.
WF Yeah, wagon work and buggy work and horses and I sold a lot of stuff on the side
as you see in there.
NP Looking back on it, was there a lot of fun in it? It was hard work of course.
WF Well a lot of hard work in it, but you got a kick out of it alright.
NP What were some of the things you got a kick out of?
WI Well talking to people coming in here and all that and see which one is telling the
biggest lie! [Laughter]
NP Who were some of the people who told the biggest lie?
WF Some of them came in and had a lot of yarn to tell.
NP I bet you've got a few yourself haven't you?
WF Well they tell to see which one is telling the biggest yarn.
Yes mam.
NP Were you open every day?
WF Yes.
NP You never took a holiday?
WF The only days we ever closed up was Christmas Day and 4th of July.
NP And then what did you do on those days, celebrate?
WI Yes we celebrated. I would take in some show or go to Havre de Grace or
someplace where they were having big fireworks and parades or something like that; take them in.
NP You went to school right here too; what was the name of the school?
WF Albina.
NP Albina.
WF Out here about a mile and a half from here. You know where it's at.
NP Yes.
WF You know where the Albina Airport is. Well, the schoolhouse was over there. You
had to walk it; there wasn't any buses to pick you up. You had to walk all the time.
NP And what did you do in school in those days? What did you have to study?
WF Well you went up to the eighth grade. There was no high school then; there was
only eighth grade. You learned Geography, History, Grammar, Arithmetic, Algebra and all that kind of stuff.
NP Did you have a woman teacher or a man teacher?
WF Most of them were women. I remember only once that I had a man teacher. They
were all lady teachers.
NP Can you remember any of their names?
WF I had one lady teacher down the road here and she is still living and she's up in her
nineties.
NP What's her name?
WF Miss Hannah Barker.
NP Miss Hannah Barker?
WF Uh huh.
NP I bet she has some stories to tell, too.
WF Yes, Miss Hannah Barker; she is still living; she lives about two miles down the
road here. She's ninety some years old.
NP Do you still see her?
WF I haven't seen her this winter or anything. She's getting a little feeble now and she
doesn't come out much.
NP How about the days when you weren't going to school? What did you do for fun
as a kid?
WF Well my daddy always had something for us to keep us busy.
NP In here, in the shop.
WF Yes, that's right. He'd find something to keep you out of trouble; he'd keep you
working.
NP Were there books to read outside of school?
WF Yes there were some books but I never had too many of them. But all the time my
father always had something. He'd say come here boy; do this; do that. He didn't let us run around like they do today, these young ones.
NP No automobiles to go running around.
WE No, no automobiles. If you wanted to go any place, you walked.
NP So you didn't walk too far.
WE Oh three or four miles; we didn't mind it.
NP How about your brothers and sisters; was it a large family?
WE No, I only had one brother. He was a little older and he died in '39.
NP Oh.
WE Yeah, he died and I've been by myself ever since.
NP You didn't marry?
WF What?
NP You don't even have a wife?
WE I did, yes. My brother was single; he was a bachelor; he never got married. I guess
I lost my wife ten years ago.
WF Are you living all by yourself now?
WE No. My son brought up two girls. And one of the girls and her husband stays here
and keeps house for me. They take care of the old man.
NP Well why not; you've been taking care of them for a long time.
WE Yeah they say they'd keep me. The youngest daughter does with her husband.
NP How about all this noise out here on the highway?
WF Oh that don't bother me none.
NP You're getting used to it now?
WF Yes I got used to that; that doesn't bother me.
NP Are there any things that bother you?
WF No, not that I know of.
NP You like everything?
WF Sure fire.
NP Do you feel good?
WF Pretty good for my age, I guess. I guess I can't brag, I guess, but I guess I'm pretty
good for my age.
NP Well you look pretty good. Do you think things are fun now? Do you watch
television?
WE Yes sometimes.
NP Can you remember the first radio you had?
WF I don't know about that; that's been sometime back.
NP So you had that pretty early.
WF Oh yes I had the radio pretty early. If they had come out with those videos first
you had to have use for them, some memories. I don't have any of them, not until we got our record player.
NP What with the big horns?
WF Yes.
NP Did you have a Victrola?
WF Yes I had a Victrola once.
NP What were some of your favorite records?
WE now; it's been so long since I had it.
NP Do you like music now?
WF Oh yes I listen to the radio and music on the radio.
NP What kind do you like best?
WF Well I can listen to any of it. [Laughter]
NP Even some Rock and Roll?
WF Yes that's not too bad.
NP It's a little different from what the kids played from when we were kids.
WF Oh yeah! That's right, that's right. It's altogether different today. This younger
generation has a different way of doing things and a different way of amusing themselves than what we used to.
NP Well how do you feel about that; are they good ways or not?
WF Well I guess they think it's alright but it doesn't suit us older people.
NP No it doesn't. I bet you did some things that didn't suit your parents.
WE Oh well any boys did that.
NP What is an ornery thing that a boy could do when you were a boy?
WE Well you could go out and play jokes on people.
NP Like what?
WF What?
NP Like what?
WF Oh maybe ring the doorbell on them and get them to come and you go hide.
[Laughter] Something like that. And then you come to the door and there's nobody there. Then by the time you go back and get to work again and we will ring it again to see if they come.
NP Naughty little boys.
WF
NP Oh boy! And then what would happen?
WF Well we didn't let them see us because you would hear them but they
didn't get to see you.
NP You just kept hidden, huh?
WE Yes we would hide.
NP How about Halloween? Did you play any new tricks?
WF Well they used to do a little Halloween around here; not too much.
NP Can you remember any of the things they used to do?
WF Well sometimes we would get on top of a man's house and put a board over the
chimney so it would smoke him out the next morning.
NP Oh no! How about you never put his cow up on his roof or anything, did you?
WE OH no; that's too much trouble, too much trouble. All those people I used to know
and all my friends are dead and gone. Not many coming around here any more.
NP They're all gone.
WF All the people in my class are dead and gone. There's an all new generation
around here. A lot of them I don't know.
NP Did you tell the younger generation how it was when you were younger?
WF Oh sometimes they would come in and ask me and I would have to tell them. They
want to know what you have done and they ask me questions in here.
NP How about outside the shop, some of the stories you can tell? Do you tell people
about things other than about the shop?
WE No, not too much. Most of the young people today want to know something they
don't know. They don't know ; they don't
know what you are talking about.
NP Well that's why it would possibly be important to tell the people
WF They don't know what you are talking about. In those days there was a blacksmith
every time you crossed the road.
NP You didn't become a farmer ever.
WF No!
NP What other occupations were there besides farming?
WE Well if you didn't have a trade, you were just out of luck in those days. There was
nothing else for you to do.
NP What were some of the other trades?
WF Carpenter or blaster or something like that. There wasn't much plumbing work to
do in those because you didn't have running water in the house, a bathroom in the house or none of that plumbing to do. Now that's a big job now; that plumbing business.
NP Yes.
WF Yes it is.
NP Well if you didn't have a trade, the kids could become school teachers?
WF Yes, that's what they did; something like that. Yes mam that's what they did.
NP It's so peaceful. Are you going to go in and have lunch now?
WF I am in a few minutes.
NP Well I hope you have a real good one.
WF Alright; I thank you.
NP I thank you. Thank you very much.
WF That's o.k.
NP It's been very interesting. Do you want to hear it?
WF Oh I don't know... [tape turns off and then back on]
NP Your only half way to lunch; what do you mean? Do you go to church?
WF Well once in a while.
NP Where do you go?
WF Up there to Hopewell.
NP Hopewell.
WF Rock Run down the road; I mostly go down there though.
NP That's half way. How about when you were a kid back then; you had to go to
church, didn't you?
WF Oh yes; you bet you did.
NP What would happen if you didn't?
WF You got a licking.
NP Oh, so you went to church. [Laughter]
WF I had no trouble going to Sunday school. I had to go to Sunday school; you bet
your life I did.
NP Was it pleasant or was it just terrible?
WE No I can't say it was terrible; I enjoyed it pretty good.
NP Do you think it was teaching you the right things?
WF Well that's what it was supposed to do; to do the right things. That's why you are
brought up to learn.
NP Now looking back on it, do you think it was the right thing?
WE I think so. It was alright. I think if many of them go today like they did back then
instead of run around. But the parents don't make them go; they let them run around all day Sunday doing something else. A lot of them do go, though.
NP Did you ever sing in the choir?
WF No, I was never a singer.
NP Not even sitting around out here?
WE No, no never a singer.
NP You're eighty-seven years old today.
WF That's right; eighty-seven years old today.
NP How are you celebrating?
WF Working in there; putting in time. I don't see doing too much work. [Laughter]
NP What have you done in here?
WF Well I have been working all morning; I made up a lot
for a man. I think they are hangers or something. I don't know what he wants them for.
NP Are you going to have a celebration tonight?
WE No, I don't think so.
NP No?
WF No, no. I don't have many of those celebrations.
NP I bet you used to have celebrations, didn't you?
WF Oh yes once or twice I did. They gave me a celebration once or twice.
NP How do you celebrate? Was it a party or what?
WE Just a little gathering at the house. A few friends come in and had a little ice cream
and cake.
NP How about when you were a kid? You had parties then, didn't you?
WF No we didn't have many parties then.
NP Even on your birthday?
WF Not too many.
NP What did you do on your birthday?
WF We all fooled around like kids do.
NP You didn't have any special parties?
WE No special parties.
NP When did you have a party?
WF I guess it's been ten or twelve years ago.
NP Tell me about it.
WE It was ten or twelve years ago they had a little birthday party for me.
NP Here at the house?
WF Yeah, here at the house.
NP Was itfun?
WF Had a few friends in.
NP And had some birthday cake and candles?
WE Yes that's right. A little ice cream and cake.
NP Are you going to light candles tonight?
WF Not that I know of.
NP Do you think anyone has eighty-seven candles?
WE I don't think so.

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Transcript

William Lorenzo Foard
A Harford Living Treasure
Monday, May 8, 1972 talking with Mr. William Ford, a Blacksmith in Level, Maryland.
NP Good morning Mr. Ford. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?
WF It is, alright; just fine. Not quite as cool as it was the day you were down here
before.
NP That's for sure. I thought it might rain but it hasn't. Does this door close if it rains?
WF Yes, I can close my door.
NP Is that a slide up door?
WF No it is double doors
NP You've been in this business for a longtime, haven't you?
WF . I've been here all my life.
NP How many years is that?
WF This Friday it will be eighty-seven years.
NP
WF Friday I will be eighty-seven this coming Friday.
NP Oh wonderful!
WE I'm eighty-seven years old.
NP And how many of those years have you been a blacksmith?
WF My father had the business and that's how I came up with it.
NP You grew up with it.
WF Yes, for eighty-seven years.
NP When did you start working in the
WF Well, until I was old enough
to do it right.
NP Did you make some mistakes while you were learning!
WF Oh yes, sure I made them alright.
NP What did you start out making? You didn't start right out making a horse shoe or a
wheel or anything.
WF Oh no, no, I just watched the men and then picked it up from them, you know.
I watched them a few times. I'd sneak in the barn and do a
little work myself.
NP Did you waste much metals?
WF Not too much, to see what I was doing, you know.
NP That's your daughter.
WF That's my daughter. You get the iron hot, you
know.
NP And then after the iron was hot, what did you do with it?
WF dry it out and make whatever you want
with it while the iron is hot. You have to get it hot to make it bend right.
NP Well you didn't pick the hot metal up with your hands?
WF If it was long enough to hold on to it we would. But if it was too short, we used
prongs or something like this. Use something like that and put it in the fire and it wouldn't matter how hot it was, you could grab with that and hold onto them. See all those tools hanging down there?
NP They are all sizes.
WF Yes you had any size iron you wanted. This is too small and this is too big so you
could get a bigger one of get a smaller one and any size iron you wanted.
NP What was the heaviest that you could pick up?
WF Well about something like 10 square and 3 inches thick.
NP How much would that weigh?
WF Oh it would have to be a pretty short piece to handle it if it was that heavy
because you couldn't handle it. You'd have to have it long enough to handle both ends because that's too heavy.
NP So if you could handle it with the prongs there, you just didn't handle it.
WE No. If you had an extra long you could handle the cold end of it,
yes.
NP And then you brought it over here to the and hammered it out to
whatever shape you wanted.
WE That's right, that's right. You have to get it hot and hammer it out to whatever
shape you want it; whatever you wanted to make out of it.
NP And what did you hammer it with?
WE Something like that.
NP Oh!
WE If it's a pretty heavy piece of iron, then it took two men to get a sledge there and
with his helper, he'd hit it with that sledge. You used a hand hammer and then you used a hand hammer to dress it up with.
NP And what were you making? You could make almost anything.
WE I had to make a metal wagon and used to make those things sitting over there;
they'd break in two and we'd have to weld them up.
NP Wagon latch?
WE Yes. That took about a three man job to do that.
NP Yes that weighs about a hundred pounds?
WE Oh yes that weighed a hundred pounds.
NP And then you made tools.
WE Yes I made some tools and all kinds of wagon and buggy work; shoe horses and
buggy work, big wagon wheels and all that stuff. I put on new tires and I half to bend them around; just like that big tire back there. Do you see that?
NP Oh yeah.
WF You get a big straight bar and straighten like that and I put it in that bender and
bend it just like I did with that thing there.
NP Oh that's like a big cradle or something.
WE Yeah. That's for wood. You sit it inside for wood.
NP Did you make that?
WF Yeah I made that.
NP Row old is it?
WF I just made it this winter.
NP You're still busy then?
WE I sold two or three this winter. I made that one and one when I went down to New
Hampshire; she bought it. And then I made another one up there. I just made that one a couple of months ago.
NP What does something like that sell for?
WE It's thirty dollars.
NP Thirty dollars.
WE For that size. If you want one bigger it cost a little bit more. I made that right out
and out.
NP Is that a whole lot more in cost or less in cost then it would be twenty-five years
ago?
WF Oh that's more than it would have been twenty-five years ago. It would have been
about fifteen dollars.
NP And did you make things like that fifty years ago?
WE No there wasn't much call for them then.
NP What were you making mostly then?
WE Oh we were just as busy here as ever before fixing wagons and buggies and
shoeing horses.
NP And how did you go about shoeing a horse?
WF There was no trouble about that.
NP What happened? Suppose I came up to this door with a horse? What would you
do?
WE Well we would bring him in here and tie him upside down with chains where we
could tie him and then pick up his foot and pull the old shoes off and cut his feet down and put on new ones.
NP He didn't just stand there and let you do it?
WF Oh yes, most of them would. Some of them were mean but most of them were
pretty quiet; it didn't bother them.
NP It didn't hurt them at all?
WF Oh no.
NP Well what did you do with the mean ones?
WF What?
NP If you had a mean horse, what did you do with him?
WF Well we'd have to rope him up. [Laughs]
NP And how did you do that?
WF Tie him up so he couldn't move.
NP I see the over-head tie up thing there and then you have something else in case
his mouth got too wide. What did you use there?
WF I used that twitch and put it on his nose and make him stand up and twist his nose
up tight.
NP He didn't like that?
WF Yeah, that made his stand pretty good.
NP And if that didn't and he still kicked, then what did you do?
WF Well then we'd have to do the best we could working it some other way then.
NP Tie his leg down?
WF Yeah, sometimes we had to tie his leg down; that's right.
NP Did they have to stand over there tied up still while you were fixing the shoe or did
you fix the shoe ahead of time?
WF No, no. I never fixed the shoe ahead of time until we got the horse because you
didn't know what size shoe you wanted. Different size horses all got different size feet; it depends on the horse. And then when you put the shoes up and then the man would bring him in there and we'd fit the shoes to fit his foot.
NP So you made the shoe over here and then you couldn't put it on the poor old
animal while it was still hot?
WF Well sometime we put it on and it burned his foot a little bit to level it up.
NP I thought that you did.
WF Yes to level it up a little bit. No, they didn't mind it.
NP Well how did you cool the shoe if it was too hot at first?
WE A bucket of water is right there.
NP Boy that must have made some steam.
WE That water was right there if you got an iron too hot, you dip right in that tub of
water. That's what all the spigots are for. You dip a hot iron in there and cool it off.
NP How much did it cost to shoe a horse?
WF Well about back in those days you only got about two dollars. Today you would
get twenty dollars.
NP Well there aren't many horses to shoe today.
WE No, no farm horses. Everything no is just these riding horses.
NP Where are they shoed? Do you do any of those?
WF I quit that about two years ago.
NP Up until then you were still doing it.
WF Yes, straight up until about two years ago I did. If I could get more, I'd do it.
NP How can you do it? You need help to do it. You can't do it all by yourself, can you?
WF Oh, many I have shod by myself.
NP Here comes a friend; do you want to talk to him?
WF No. That's my son-in-law; he's going into the house.
NP How many horses did you use to shoe during the day?
WE Well we'd average from fifteen to twenty, maybe some days less and some days
more. The most we did turn out here, we shod a hundred and thirty head of horses here in one week.
NP Well that's something unusual.
WF Oh yeah that's unusual. It was icy weather and they had to be sharp so they
wouldn't slip on the ice. A hundred and thirty head in one week.
NP How many men did you have working in here?
WF There was about three of us at that time. I used to have five men in here.
NP Just kept them working all the time?
WF Oh yes these fires were going full blast all day and other men doing other work.
Some days that's all we got done was shoe horses.
NP And then have to take care of the wagons when you got around to it.
WF That's right. And when they come in with a small job like that or something we
just threw it back in the corner until we got time to do it.
NP This must have been a hot smelly place with the horses and the steam and
everything.
WF Oh yeah! You're right, you're right! You are mighty right, lady.
NP You must have had a lot of flies around.
WE That's the reason we have that fly brush. A man would bring his horse in here. I
showed you we made him use that to keep the flies off of us in the summer time. If he didn't keep the flies off, we wouldn't shoe his horse for him. [Laughter]
NP He sat there and shooed the flies for you.
WE That's right.
NP How did you make that fly shoo? That's an interesting thing. It's a horse's tail.
WF Yes, it's a horse' tail; it came off of a dead horse. One of my men had a horse that
died and he cut his tail off and brought it to me and we made a fly brush out of it.
Some of them were very long tails. Do you know how long a horse's tail is?
NP Yes.
WE That one was about that long.
NP It looks like three and a half feet really.
WE Yes. It's just worn down to a foot now.
NP Well how did you tan it? You couldn't just hang a horse's tail there.
WE No, you take the bone out and spread it open and tack it on the board and then
you salt it down; tan it, you know. That preserves it.
NP You salted it down?
WF Oh yeah, you put salt on it to tan it; do you know what I mean?
NP Yes.
WF You had salt to preserve it and then you just make it. Take cow hide like today to
make shoes out of they go to a tannery and you make your shoes out of it.
NP Or somebody makes the shoes out of it. And then after it was all cured, you
wrapped it around the pole.
WF Tacked it on that stick.
NP How old is that one? It looks like it's had a few years on it.
WE Oh yeah; I don't know just how old it is but I know but I know it's twenty-five or
thirty years old anyhow.
NP Well it looks like it still has some use to it.
WF I used to have two or three of them in there because we had two men shoeing
mostly. We wore them out. We used them until we wore them out.
NP Yes that one looks like it has a few more years on it.
WE Yes indeedyl
NP I noticed we're standing here on this floor. Is it the original floor?
WF Yes.
NP Is it Hickory?
WF Oak floor.
NP It has all the marks of the hoofs and the men's heels and everything else on it.
WE Yeah. A lot of these marks over here was from broken iron. You cut a piece off
and you didn't want to take time to knock it off the floor so it laid there a little while and burned it. We didn't want to lose our heat on our iron so we could work and that's what made all those marks on the floor.
NP Yes, it looks like you had a fire there.
WE Yes.
NP And then there is just a dirt floor over there by the where you work,
WE Well that's right; that's dirt. We have that to keep the fire from burning down the
floor over here because a hot iron wouldn't burn back there.
NP How would you keep your feet warm in the middle of winter?
WF We never had any trouble keeping our feet warm.
NP The fire was always hot?
WF Working near that fire, I guess you keep warm.
NP You have to worry about keeping cool, I guess. How did you keep cool in the
summer?
WE Oh boy we open these doors up and made us sweat pretty bad.
NP Now you didn't always have electricity in here?
WE No, no. We didn't have electricity until about ... there weren't any lines through
here or nothing. It was about thirty years, I guess until we had electric in here.
NP You have the electric lights. Do you have anything else running on electricity in
here?
WE We have drills.
NP Oh your modeling drill.
WF Yes, that's electric. I use that now. I used to have to use that old hand drill all the
time. Right there it what we used to have; you had to turn it with your hands. So we got electric in here and then I got an electric drill. So I use an electric drill now.
NP Is that drill for metal and wood?
WF Yes.
NP Where do you get your iron now?
WE Baltimore.
NP Baltimore and it's plentiful?
WE Yes, we get it from Baltimore.
NP How about long ago? Did you get it from some place closer?
WE No. It came from Baltimore but in those days you had to have it shipped to Havre
de Grace by freight and then we had to go to Havre de Grace and haul it home.
NP How many times a week did you do that?
WF Well sometimes I averaged two or three days a week down in Havre de Grace
hauling freight home.
NP Did you have somebody to just do that while the shop was still going on or did
things just stop here?
WF No, no. One or the other would take off and go get it.
NP How much did a truck load of iron cost when you first started out, maybe?
WF Well it would run you about five cents and about a hundred or a
hundred and fifty dollars a ton.
NP What would that be today?
WF That today would be about five hundred.
NP I guess your fuel has gone up too?
WE Oh everything has gone up! Things have doubled or tripled; some of it's dribbled.
NP Dribbled?
WE Yes. Well like I said iron would run you about a hundred dollars a ton and today it
would run you five hundred dollars a ton.
NP How about coal? Has that gone up?
WF Yes, you could buy that for ten dollars a ton and now today that would run you
about twenty or twenty-five dollars a ton, if you can get it.
NP This winter when I visited, you were getting low on the coal and you didn't know if
you could find any.
WE Yes.
NP Where did you get it finally?
WE I got it ... a couple of fellows found out that I wanted some and they found me
some. I don't know where they got it, but they came in here one day with a load for me. They said here we found you some coal.
NP And that kept you in business for the rest of the winter.
WF Yes it kept me in business. They brought me another and now I've got enough to
last me for about a year.
NP Oh, that's good.
WF Yes.
NP You are going to keep working all this next year, too?
WF Well as long as I'm able. It's better than sitting around doing nothing.
NP That's for sure.
WF That's right.
NP How about the other rooms? You don't just have your forge and your shop here;
you have all kinds of other little rooms around, haven't you? Now we are passing
over right in front of the forge and up a worn little wooden step into a little wooden room. Is this your office?
WF This is my office room Supplies are in here and I sell all of
this stuff on the side. Nails, forks; get a lot of handles in and stuff like that.
NP And you've got the bigger tools?
WF Oh yes. We have rakes and hoes and axes, nails, hinges and all kinds of stuff in
there.
NP What is that thing up there on the ceiling?
WF I used to use them for the we used to sell. We would
hang the and and cut them off whatever
length you wanted.
NP Is this like it's always been?
WF Yes it's always been this way. I've never made no changes in it since my father had
it.
NP All wood panels and a steel desk. Is that where you do your book work?
WF Yes that's where I do my book work.
NP Do you have to stand up to do it?
WF Well the main office is in the house.
NP And you have your own scale. And what are all these other things?
WF What? That's liniment I sell.
NP Liniment.
WF Yes.
NP . What is that for; do you just take it for aches
and pains?
WE Yes that's for aches and pains; that's for horses or people, either one. I have
different size bottles there. That size and a smaller size. That one is a bigger size.
NP You mean if it's good enough for horses, it's good enough for a person?
WF Sure is. A lot of people use it. I had one lady that uses it and says it's the only thing
she can use to get on her knees for her arthritis.
NP Ah.
WF Yes, I got a few people that use that all the time.
NP Does the Blacksmith have to be more than a smithy; did he have to dispense
medicines too?
WF No, not particularly. There is a big room in there.
NP And these old cabinets; they look like they've been around a bit.
WF Oh yes. Everything is old. Most everything in here is older than I am.
NP When did your father start this shop?
WE Well I don't know. I should know because I was born and raised here. I was born in
'85 and he must have started around about 1880.
NP And you haven't done anything to the inside to restore it because the outside has
been kept up.
WE No, everything is just about like he had it.
NP Even the doors.
WF Yes, even the doors. The same old doors; the same old things.
NP Is that a poster?
WF It's been down there so long, it's just rotten; rotten paper.
NP Are they calendars?
WF Yes that was a calendar down there and then I tacked that one on there. But that
old calendar has been on there for years and years. Yes the papers get so rotten.
NP What about locks? Did you all make locks and keys too?
WE No, they were bought. That's an old one. That's been put on there. It's different
than the first lock that was put on there. You can't find those kinds of locks today.
NP And the room behind here you have some collections, don't you?
WF I have stuff in here.
NP What are some of the treasures back there?
WF I don't have much stuff back there anymore but most of it's a storeroom now. I
got a lot of stored there still.
NP And you had the sleigh bells.
WF Yes, that's them.
NP Can you jingle them for us?
WF Oh yes. [Very loud jingling noises]
NP Oh they are beautiful! Your friend put those on the strap for you?
WE Yes, yes. I just had them re-strung. I had them all laid out and they were about to
fall off and they had them re-strung. They'll last now for years.
NP Well the horses didn't wear those every day; they were for special occasions,
weren't they?
WF
NP The collars with the bells.
WF Yes, they were just for winter time when you had snow and you went sleighing.
NP For fun?
WE That's right; that's right.
NP Now you have another room back over there; it looks like another storeroom.
WE I have all kinds of bolts back in here. I have all size bolts. This is full of bolts too out
here.
NP Is this the way it was years and years ago?
WF Yes.
NP Same cabinets...
WE Same cabinets and everything. Same floor; everything.
NP And how about that scale? Row old is that thing?
WF I guess it's as old as I am; it's been here ever since I've been here.
NP You didn't weigh a horse on that?
WE Oh no, no, no.
NP It's almost big enough.
WF That only holds about five hundred pounds.
NP How do you feel about the horse going out of style?
WV Well I guess it's alright.
NP But there are still horses around.
WE Those are riding horses.
NP Who shoes them? Who takes care of them?
WF There's two or three fellows; I know one or two of them that goes around doing
nothing but shoeing horses. That's all that they are doing. They are just making a business of it.
NP Huh.
WE They have a truck and everything and they just go around and shoe all these riding
horses. They can't even keep up they tell me. Sometimes they shoe all day Sunday just to get caught up.
NP Well are there enough young people being trained in this?
WE Well I don't know about that; I couldn't say, but I know there is more of them
taking it up in this last year or two then there was. But that's what they're doing now; these young fellows are taking it up and they get themselves a truck and just going around the country and shoe the horses.
NP Where do they apprentice? Do they work with another blacksmith?
WV Yes, sometimes. There is a school some place down in the south where they go to
learn it. The men down there or somebody down there learns them how to do it and everything.
NP So that they'll...
WF And then they come back out and start on their own.
NP There must be good money in it these days.
WF Well yes when it used to be done at two dollars and now you get twenty.
NP [Laughs]
WV It makes a difference.
NP Instead of having a shop like this; they have it on wheels.
WE Yeah, that's right; that's all they know. They can't do other work like I do. All they
do is just shoe horses.
NP And you are going to keep on with this work?
WF Well as long as I'm able.
NP It is still as much pleasure as it used to be? It gets a little lonely sometimes now,
doesn't it?
WE Well that's one thing about it; there's always somebody coming and going and
somebody to talk to.
NP That helps.
WE Yes! It helps pass the time away.
NP And then of course you're not too far away from home from here, are you? You
can always run in the house.
WF No. Right here at the house.
NP Is that the house you were born in?
WE Yep, right there.
NP But it's older than eighty-seven years old. How old is it?
WE Oh I don't know how old that house is. I expect it's about a hundred and fifty years
old; I wouldn't doubt it.
NP How about Level? How old is the village?
WE What?
NP How old is the village of Level?
WF Oh you ask me now and I don't know. I know it's older than I am. There used to be
a Post Office here at one time. We had a Post Office here.
NP Was it a real busy town?
WE Yes, fairly busy. It didn't have many in here; there wasn't nothing but the
blacksmith shop and the store up there and the Post Office was all that was here at one time.
NP People lived out farther.
WF That's right. More farmers were there then, than there is now around here.
Farmers are all gone; there's not many farmers left. All these nice farms are all covered up. I remember when you used to go up that hill; there wasn't a house up that Bel Air hill. Now it's all covered over. All those farms are gone. They built all those houses on there.
NP Are a lot of your friends still around now?
WF NO! Most the people my age are all dead and gone. There aren't many left around
here anymore. They are all new people to me.
NP But you are still friends with them?
WF Oh yes. Now the older heads are dead and gone; all those people that used to
come around here and stay around here. I'd see them come in the morning and stay around here and be here when the night came.
NP Was this a social gathering place?
WF That sounds right. That's right. One man would come in and then another and
they'd get to standing here and the first thing you know they'd be here when dark comes.
NP It didn't interfere with work?
WF But they don't do that today. They just come and go home. It's come and go
today.
NP They stop in just for a little while. Do you have a lot of visitors or strangers like
me?
WF Oh yes. Like I said movies and different ones come in
here and I don't know how many I know come in here. They take pictures and stuff. That's right.
NP What is that picture hanging on the wall?
WF That's a picture of my shop.
NP Who did that?
WF Diane Wright.
NP That is very pretty. Do you have a photograph of it, too?
WE There it is. See, she has her name on there.
NP Very pretty.
WF I keep it over there to keep the dirt from getting on it, you see what I mean out
here; it's dirty. Yes, there it is; it's a picture of the shop. She painted that, Dian Wright. She's got her name right on it.
NP That is very pretty. You've been getting a lot of publicity lately, haven't you? With
the movie and the painting...
WE Yes, lots of them. There was somebody coming in here wanting to take movies of
the place.
NP And you let them?
WE Oh yes!
NP Do you charge anybody?
WE No, never so far.
NP Have you thought about it?
WE It's all free of charge.
NP Well who is going to take this shop over when you can't work it anymore?
WF Shut down and torn down, I expect.
NP It couldn't be preserved?
WF I don't know. Unless somebody wanted to buy it and preserve it; that would be
the only thing.
NP Has anybody made an offer?
WF Nope; I've never had anybody make me an offer. It's too much work so they want
something they don't have to work on.
NP What job is that?
WF There is no job working in a shop like this today. These young people want the
easy jobs. They want a white collar job; they don't want blue collar work.
NP This is hard work. Well Mr. Eoard I want to thank you for taking this time.
WF That's alright.
NP I appreciate it. It's been...
[A lot of noise] Tape back on
NP The old days, huh?
WF No, there weren't no automobiles in those days. There weren't any automobiles
to repair.
NP Right; you had to do the carriage work and the horse shoes.
WF Yeah, wagon work and buggy work and horses and I sold a lot of stuff on the side
as you see in there.
NP Looking back on it, was there a lot of fun in it? It was hard work of course.
WF Well a lot of hard work in it, but you got a kick out of it alright.
NP What were some of the things you got a kick out of?
WI Well talking to people coming in here and all that and see which one is telling the
biggest lie! [Laughter]
NP Who were some of the people who told the biggest lie?
WF Some of them came in and had a lot of yarn to tell.
NP I bet you've got a few yourself haven't you?
WF Well they tell to see which one is telling the biggest yarn.
Yes mam.
NP Were you open every day?
WF Yes.
NP You never took a holiday?
WF The only days we ever closed up was Christmas Day and 4th of July.
NP And then what did you do on those days, celebrate?
WI Yes we celebrated. I would take in some show or go to Havre de Grace or
someplace where they were having big fireworks and parades or something like that; take them in.
NP You went to school right here too; what was the name of the school?
WF Albina.
NP Albina.
WF Out here about a mile and a half from here. You know where it's at.
NP Yes.
WF You know where the Albina Airport is. Well, the schoolhouse was over there. You
had to walk it; there wasn't any buses to pick you up. You had to walk all the time.
NP And what did you do in school in those days? What did you have to study?
WF Well you went up to the eighth grade. There was no high school then; there was
only eighth grade. You learned Geography, History, Grammar, Arithmetic, Algebra and all that kind of stuff.
NP Did you have a woman teacher or a man teacher?
WF Most of them were women. I remember only once that I had a man teacher. They
were all lady teachers.
NP Can you remember any of their names?
WF I had one lady teacher down the road here and she is still living and she's up in her
nineties.
NP What's her name?
WF Miss Hannah Barker.
NP Miss Hannah Barker?
WF Uh huh.
NP I bet she has some stories to tell, too.
WF Yes, Miss Hannah Barker; she is still living; she lives about two miles down the
road here. She's ninety some years old.
NP Do you still see her?
WF I haven't seen her this winter or anything. She's getting a little feeble now and she
doesn't come out much.
NP How about the days when you weren't going to school? What did you do for fun
as a kid?
WF Well my daddy always had something for us to keep us busy.
NP In here, in the shop.
WF Yes, that's right. He'd find something to keep you out of trouble; he'd keep you
working.
NP Were there books to read outside of school?
WF Yes there were some books but I never had too many of them. But all the time my
father always had something. He'd say come here boy; do this; do that. He didn't let us run around like they do today, these young ones.
NP No automobiles to go running around.
WE No, no automobiles. If you wanted to go any place, you walked.
NP So you didn't walk too far.
WE Oh three or four miles; we didn't mind it.
NP How about your brothers and sisters; was it a large family?
WE No, I only had one brother. He was a little older and he died in '39.
NP Oh.
WE Yeah, he died and I've been by myself ever since.
NP You didn't marry?
WF What?
NP You don't even have a wife?
WE I did, yes. My brother was single; he was a bachelor; he never got married. I guess
I lost my wife ten years ago.
WF Are you living all by yourself now?
WE No. My son brought up two girls. And one of the girls and her husband stays here
and keeps house for me. They take care of the old man.
NP Well why not; you've been taking care of them for a long time.
WE Yeah they say they'd keep me. The youngest daughter does with her husband.
NP How about all this noise out here on the highway?
WF Oh that don't bother me none.
NP You're getting used to it now?
WF Yes I got used to that; that doesn't bother me.
NP Are there any things that bother you?
WF No, not that I know of.
NP You like everything?
WF Sure fire.
NP Do you feel good?
WF Pretty good for my age, I guess. I guess I can't brag, I guess, but I guess I'm pretty
good for my age.
NP Well you look pretty good. Do you think things are fun now? Do you watch
television?
WE Yes sometimes.
NP Can you remember the first radio you had?
WF I don't know about that; that's been sometime back.
NP So you had that pretty early.
WF Oh yes I had the radio pretty early. If they had come out with those videos first
you had to have use for them, some memories. I don't have any of them, not until we got our record player.
NP What with the big horns?
WF Yes.
NP Did you have a Victrola?
WF Yes I had a Victrola once.
NP What were some of your favorite records?
WE now; it's been so long since I had it.
NP Do you like music now?
WF Oh yes I listen to the radio and music on the radio.
NP What kind do you like best?
WF Well I can listen to any of it. [Laughter]
NP Even some Rock and Roll?
WF Yes that's not too bad.
NP It's a little different from what the kids played from when we were kids.
WF Oh yeah! That's right, that's right. It's altogether different today. This younger
generation has a different way of doing things and a different way of amusing themselves than what we used to.
NP Well how do you feel about that; are they good ways or not?
WF Well I guess they think it's alright but it doesn't suit us older people.
NP No it doesn't. I bet you did some things that didn't suit your parents.
WE Oh well any boys did that.
NP What is an ornery thing that a boy could do when you were a boy?
WE Well you could go out and play jokes on people.
NP Like what?
WF What?
NP Like what?
WF Oh maybe ring the doorbell on them and get them to come and you go hide.
[Laughter] Something like that. And then you come to the door and there's nobody there. Then by the time you go back and get to work again and we will ring it again to see if they come.
NP Naughty little boys.
WF
NP Oh boy! And then what would happen?
WF Well we didn't let them see us because you would hear them but they
didn't get to see you.
NP You just kept hidden, huh?
WE Yes we would hide.
NP How about Halloween? Did you play any new tricks?
WF Well they used to do a little Halloween around here; not too much.
NP Can you remember any of the things they used to do?
WF Well sometimes we would get on top of a man's house and put a board over the
chimney so it would smoke him out the next morning.
NP Oh no! How about you never put his cow up on his roof or anything, did you?
WE OH no; that's too much trouble, too much trouble. All those people I used to know
and all my friends are dead and gone. Not many coming around here any more.
NP They're all gone.
WF All the people in my class are dead and gone. There's an all new generation
around here. A lot of them I don't know.
NP Did you tell the younger generation how it was when you were younger?
WF Oh sometimes they would come in and ask me and I would have to tell them. They
want to know what you have done and they ask me questions in here.
NP How about outside the shop, some of the stories you can tell? Do you tell people
about things other than about the shop?
WE No, not too much. Most of the young people today want to know something they
don't know. They don't know ; they don't
know what you are talking about.
NP Well that's why it would possibly be important to tell the people
WF They don't know what you are talking about. In those days there was a blacksmith
every time you crossed the road.
NP You didn't become a farmer ever.
WF No!
NP What other occupations were there besides farming?
WE Well if you didn't have a trade, you were just out of luck in those days. There was
nothing else for you to do.
NP What were some of the other trades?
WF Carpenter or blaster or something like that. There wasn't much plumbing work to
do in those because you didn't have running water in the house, a bathroom in the house or none of that plumbing to do. Now that's a big job now; that plumbing business.
NP Yes.
WF Yes it is.
NP Well if you didn't have a trade, the kids could become school teachers?
WF Yes, that's what they did; something like that. Yes mam that's what they did.
NP It's so peaceful. Are you going to go in and have lunch now?
WF I am in a few minutes.
NP Well I hope you have a real good one.
WF Alright; I thank you.
NP I thank you. Thank you very much.
WF That's o.k.
NP It's been very interesting. Do you want to hear it?
WF Oh I don't know... [tape turns off and then back on]
NP Your only half way to lunch; what do you mean? Do you go to church?
WF Well once in a while.
NP Where do you go?
WF Up there to Hopewell.
NP Hopewell.
WF Rock Run down the road; I mostly go down there though.
NP That's half way. How about when you were a kid back then; you had to go to
church, didn't you?
WF Oh yes; you bet you did.
NP What would happen if you didn't?
WF You got a licking.
NP Oh, so you went to church. [Laughter]
WF I had no trouble going to Sunday school. I had to go to Sunday school; you bet
your life I did.
NP Was it pleasant or was it just terrible?
WE No I can't say it was terrible; I enjoyed it pretty good.
NP Do you think it was teaching you the right things?
WF Well that's what it was supposed to do; to do the right things. That's why you are
brought up to learn.
NP Now looking back on it, do you think it was the right thing?
WE I think so. It was alright. I think if many of them go today like they did back then
instead of run around. But the parents don't make them go; they let them run around all day Sunday doing something else. A lot of them do go, though.
NP Did you ever sing in the choir?
WF No, I was never a singer.
NP Not even sitting around out here?
WE No, no never a singer.
NP You're eighty-seven years old today.
WF That's right; eighty-seven years old today.
NP How are you celebrating?
WF Working in there; putting in time. I don't see doing too much work. [Laughter]
NP What have you done in here?
WF Well I have been working all morning; I made up a lot
for a man. I think they are hangers or something. I don't know what he wants them for.
NP Are you going to have a celebration tonight?
WE No, I don't think so.
NP No?
WF No, no. I don't have many of those celebrations.
NP I bet you used to have celebrations, didn't you?
WF Oh yes once or twice I did. They gave me a celebration once or twice.
NP How do you celebrate? Was it a party or what?
WE Just a little gathering at the house. A few friends come in and had a little ice cream
and cake.
NP How about when you were a kid? You had parties then, didn't you?
WF No we didn't have many parties then.
NP Even on your birthday?
WF Not too many.
NP What did you do on your birthday?
WF We all fooled around like kids do.
NP You didn't have any special parties?
WE No special parties.
NP When did you have a party?
WF I guess it's been ten or twelve years ago.
NP Tell me about it.
WE It was ten or twelve years ago they had a little birthday party for me.
NP Here at the house?
WF Yeah, here at the house.
NP Was itfun?
WF Had a few friends in.
NP And had some birthday cake and candles?
WE Yes that's right. A little ice cream and cake.
NP Are you going to light candles tonight?
WF Not that I know of.
NP Do you think anyone has eighty-seven candles?
WE I don't think so.